SOFTBALL

By Pete Temple, Express Sports Editor

If you need evidence that the Monticello Panthers can hit, check out last week’s results.

In nine games last week, which included four Tri-Rivers Conference victories, a 3-1 record in the West Delaware tournament, and an overall total of eight wins, the Panthers reached double digits in hits six times.

In two of those games, they had 22 hits (each). The lowest hit total was eight.

More importantly, the seventh-ranked Panthers (9-1, 21-3) stayed on the heels of Edgewood-Colesburg, one game behind, in the Tri-Rivers race. Those two will meet in a June 27 doubleheader in Monticello.

The nine-game week didn’t seem to bother the Panthers, who opened with a lopsided sweep at Springville June 11, by scores of 15-3 and 16-2, both in six innings.

The first game featured a 4-for-4 plate performance from Taylor Aitchison, who bats ninth in the order. Lael Lubben had three hits, Brooke Stahlberg drove in four runs, and Jordan Aitchison had three of the team’s 11 stolen bases. Erin Hosch pitched a two-hitter for the win.

In the second game, Erin Hosch went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in, and Paxtyn Keleher drove in five runs while batting 3-for-5. Kori Bohlken hit a two-run home run. Hannah Thompson fired a three-hitter for her first victory of the season.

“Both pitchers threw exceptionally well, and our offense did a great job of generating hits one through nine,” Monticello coach Tiffany Kruse said.

Next came a non-conference doubleheader with Midland June 12 in Wyoming. The Panthers led 2-0 through four innings, then broke away with 10 runs in the final three. The team collected 12 hits, including a two-run triple by Jordan Aitchison. Hosch fired a one-hitter with eight strikeouts.

Maquoketa Valley gave the Panthers a good test in the first game of a June 13 doubleheader in Monticello. A two-run homer by Kali Koopmann put the Wildcats ahead 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning.

The Panthers came back in the bottom half, however, on an RBI double by Sonya McCormick, and a game-tying single from Taylor Aitchison. In the seventh, two singles and two errors brought Allison Kraus home with the winning run in a 3-2 Panther triumph.

“I was extremely proud of how the girls came from behind in the first game to win,” Kruse said, “and then jump on top right away in the first inning of game two.”

Monticello collected 22 hits in six innings to win the second game 17-7. Keleher was 5-for-5 with two doubles and six RBIs. Jordan Aitchison and Allison Kraus had three hits apiece; Aitchison had a solo homer.

Hosch was the winning pitcher in both games, upping her record to 17-1.

The West Delaware tournament June 15-16 provided some challenges for the Panthers, and their only loss of the week. Independence scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning, then fought off a Monticello rally, to win 7-5. Allison Kraus and Lubben each had two of the Panthers’ eight hits.

A rematch with Maquoketa Valley was next, and the Panthers jumped to a 5-0 first inning lead on the way to a 12-2, five-inning victory. Allison Kraus, Taylor Aitchison and Bohlken had two hits apiece.

Jordan Aitchison had a triple. Thompson pitched for

the win.

Monticello won both of its tournament games on Saturday, June 16. The first was a 7-2 win over East Buchanan. The key there was a four-run fourth inning that gave the Panthers a 6-0 lead. RBI doubles by Stahlberg and McCormick were two of the key hits. Jordan Aitchison was 3-for-4 with a double. Hosch fired a four-hitter with eight strikeouts to get the win.

The Panthers put the bats to work again in the final game of the tournament, amassing 22 hits in a 14-9 win over Williamsburg. Monticello took a 9-4 lead into the sixth inning, when Williamsburg came up with five runs to tie it.

Monticello answered run-for-run, scoring five of its own in the bottom half. McCormick had a two-run triple in that rally. Thompson, pitching in relief of Hosch, worked the last 1 1/3 innings to get the win. Allison Kraus was 4-for-5 with two doubles, and Lubben also went 4-for-5. Taylor Aitchison batted 3-for-3.

“The girls grew a lot as a team over the weekend, and to be able to play such a powerful hitting team like Williamsburg and beat them was a great testament to our pitching staff and team,” Kruse said. “They were probably the hardest hitting team that we have faced this year.

“That competition is what will prepare us for the conference games and post-season ahead.”

June 11

Monticello 15, Springville 3

(first game, six innings)

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 3 3 2 2

Stahlberg 2b 5 1 2 4

Lubben c 5 0 3 1

Bone cr 0 3 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 3 1 1 1

Keleher 3b 3 1 1 1

Hosch p 2 0 0 0

Kraus, K. cr 0 1 0 0

McCormick ss 2 2 0 0

Bohlken 1b 3 0 0 0

Aitchison, T. rf 4 3 4 0

Totals 30 15 13 9

Monticello 004 506 – 15 13 3

Springville 000 003 – 3 2 1

LOB – Springville 6, Monticello 3.

2B – Stahlberg, A. Kraus.

SB – J. Aitchison 3, Stahlberg 2, Lubben 2,

K. Kraus 2, T. Aitchison 2.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Hosch (W, 14-1) 6 2 3 0 5 3

Totals 6 2 3 0 5 3

Monticello 16, Springville 2

(second game, six innings)

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 4 0 0 0

Stahlberg 2b 3 3 1 1

Lubben c 5 2 2 1

Kraus, A. lf 2 3 0 0

Keleher 3b 5 2 3 5

Hosch dh 3 1 3 3

Thompson p 0 0 0 0

McCormick ss 4 2 1 2

Kraus, K. cr 0 0 0 0

Bohlken 1b 3 2 2 2

Spensley ph 1 0 0 0

Aitchison, T. rf 4 1 2 1

Bone ph 1 0 0 0

Totals 35 16 14 15

Monticello 030 625 – 16 14 2

Springville 000 110 – 2 3 5

LOB – Monticello 11, Springville 5.

HR – Bohlken.

2B - Hosch 3, Keleher.

SB - Lubben 2, J. Aitchison, Stahlberg,

K. Kraus, T. Aitchison.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Thompson (W, 1-1) 6 3 2 0 1 1

Totals 6 3 2 0 1 1

June 12

Monticello 12, Midland 0

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 4 2 1 4

Stahlberg 2b 4 3 2 3

Lubben c 4 0 2 2

Bone cr 0 0 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 2 0 0 0

Keleher 3b 4 0 1 2

Hosch p 4 0 1 0

Spensley cr 0 0 0 0

McCormick ss 4 2 2 0

Bohlken 1b 3 3 2 0

Aitchison, T. rf 2 2 1 0

Totals 31 12 12 11

Monticello 002 024 4 – 12 12 2

Midland 000 000 0 – 0 1 0

LOB – Monticello 7, Midland 4.

3B – J. Aitchison, Stahlberg.

2B - Lubben, McCormick.

SB – Bohlken, J. Aitchison, McCormick,

T. Aitchison.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Hosch (W, 15-1) 7 1 0 0 1 8

Totals 7 1 0 0 1 8

June 13

Monticello 3, Maq. Valley 2

(first game)

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 4 0 1 0

Stahlberg 2b 4 0 1 0

Lubben c 3 0 1 0

Kraus, K. cr 0 0 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 4 1 1 0

Keleher 3b 3 0 1 0

Hosch p 3 0 1 1

Bone cr 0 1 0 0

McCormick ss 3 1 1 1

Bohlken 1b 3 0 0 0

Aitchison, T. rf 3 0 2 1

Totals 30 3 9 3

Maq. Valley 000 002 0 -  2 8 1

Monticello 000 002 1 – 3 9 1

LOB – Monticello 11, Maquoketa Valley 7.

2B – McCormick.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Hosch (W, 16-1) 7 8 2 2 1 3

Totals 7 8 2 2 1 3

Monticello 17, Maq. Valley 7

(second game, six innings)

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 5 3 3 2

Stahlberg 2b 4 2 1 0

Lubben c 5 0 5 1

Bone cr 0 4 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 5 3 3 3

Keleher 3b 5 1 5 6

Hosch p 3 0 0 0

Kraus, K. cr 0 0 0 0

Thompson p 2 0 2 1

McCormick ss 4 2 2 0

Bohlken 1b 4 0 1 1

Aitchison, T. rf 3 2 1 2

Totals 40 17 22 16

Maq. Valley 000 250 0 – 7 4 2

Monticello 155 123 x – 17 22 6

LOB – Maquoketa Valley 7, Monticello 7.

HR – J. Aitchison.

2B – A. Kraus 3, Keleher 2, J. Aitchison,

Lubben, Thompson, McCormick.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Hosch (W, 17-1) 3 0 0 0 2 2

Thompson 3 4 7 2 1 2

Totals 6 4 7 2 3 4

June 15

West Delaware Tournament

Independence 7, Monticello 5

(six innings)

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 2 1 0 0

Stahlberg 2b 2 0 1 0

Lubben c 4 0 2 0

Bone cr 0 0 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 4 1 2 1

Keleher ss 3 1 1 1

Hosch p 3 1 1 0

Kraus, K. cr 0 0 0 0

McCormick 3b 4 0 1 0

Bohlken 1b 2 1 0 0

Aitchison, T. rf 1 0 0 0

Totals 25 5 8 2

Independence 001 150 – 7 11 1

Monticello 200 030 – 5 8 1

LOB – Independence 11, Monticello 11.

2B – Hosch.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Hosch (L, 17-2) 6 11 7 6 4 7

Totals 6 11 7 6 4 7

Monticello 12, Maq. Valley 2

(five innings)

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 4 2 1 2

Stahlberg 2b 3 0 1 2

Lubben c 3 0 1 0

Bone cr 0 1 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 4 1 2 1

Keleher ss 3 2 1 0

Hosch dh 1 3 1 1

Thompson p 0 0 0 0

McCormick 3b 3 0 1 2

Bohlken 1b 3 2 2 2

Aitchison, T. rf 2 1 2 2

Totals 26 12 12 12

Monticello 504 21 – 12 12 1

Maq. Valley 011 00 – 2 7 1

LOB – Monticello 9, Maquoketa Valley 6.

3B - J. Aitchison.

SB – Bone.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Thompson (W, 2-1) 5 7 2 1 0 3

Totals 5 7 2 1 0 3

June 16

West Delaware Tournament

Monticello 7, E. Buchanan 2

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 4 2 3 0

Stahlberg 2b 4 0 0 1

Lubben c 4 0 2 1

Bone cr 0 0 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 3 1 1 0

Keleher ss 3 1 1 0

Hosch p 3 1 2 1

Kraus, K. cr 0 0 0 0

McCormick 3b 4 1 2 1

Bohlken 1b 4 0 0 0

Aitchison, T. rf 3 1 1 1

Totals 32 7 12 5

Monticello 200 400 1 – 7 12 2

East Buchanan 000 001 1 – 2 4 0

LOB – Monticello 8, East Buchanan 5.

2B – J. Aitchison, Hosch, McCormick.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Hosch (W, 18-2) 7 4 2 2 0 8

Totals 7 4 2 2 0 8

Monti 14, Williamsburg 9

MONTICELLO AB R H BI

Aitchison, J. cf 5 1 2 0

Stahlberg 2b 3 2 1 1

Lubben c 5 0 4 2

Bone cr 0 3 0 0

Kraus, A. lf 5 2 4 4

Keleher ss 4 0 1 2

Hosch p 3 0 2 1

Kraus, K. cr 0 1 0 0

Thompson p 1 0 1 0

McCormick 3b 4 1 2 2

Bohlken 1b 3 2 2 0

Aitchison, T. rf 3 2 3 1

Totals 36 14 22 13

Williamsburg 002 115 0 – 9 14 0

Monticello 301 415 x – 14 22 3

LOB – Williamsburg 10, Monticello 8.

2B – A. Kraus 2.

SB - Stahlberg, Bone, Bohlken.

Monticello IP H R ER BB SO

Hosch 52/3 10 9 2 2 1

Thompson (W, 3-1) 11/3 4 0 0 0 0

Totals 7 14 9 2 2 1

PHOTO: Erin Hosch winds and fires during the Panthers’ win at Midland June 12. (Photo by Pete Temple)